


The Gift

by jensenacklesruinedmylife



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Cas is moody, Christmas, Christmas fic, Dean is confused, Established Relationship, Gift Fic, Guilt, M/M, Married Couple, Morning Sickness, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 02:13:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jensenacklesruinedmylife/pseuds/jensenacklesruinedmylife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas has been acting strange lately, and on Christmas Eve, Dean finds out why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Laana asked for a Christmas destiel fic, and I had to deliver. Originally posted on tumblr. Merry Christmas, enjoy! :3

"I mean, I love the man more than life itself, I do, but he’s driving me insane!" Dean sighs and takes a sip of his coffee. He’s in the teacher’s lounge with Ms. Bradbury, the school nurse, waiting for the morning bell to ring. 

"Well, I’m sure he has a good reason," Charlie says sweetly, "I couldn’t imagine him pushing your buttons just for the hell of it."

"Oh, you’d be surprised," Dean mutters into the mug in his hand. He takes another sip and grimaces. The coffee is lukewarm and tasteless, but it’ll have to do. "I would be fine if he was just in a bad mood for a few days, but he has been cranky all week! And  _nothing_ I do is helping, and I’ve tried everything.” 

Charlie chuckles. “Did you put coal in his stocking or something?” 

"No, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he put coal in mine." 

"Uh oh, have you been naughty this year, Mr. Winchester?"

Dean almost chokes on his coffee but the bell rings before he can think of a response. Charlie only laughs and waves goodbye as she leaves the small room, and Dean pours the rest of his coffee into the sink, shaking his head. He leaves the room and rushes down the hall toward his classroom.  

It’s Friday, the last day of school before the holiday break, and Dean expects his first graders to be loud and rambunctious all day. Luckily, school lets out early, so he doesn’t expect it to be that bad. He plans on stopping by the mall before heading home in order to find his husband the perfect gift, or gifts, although he has no idea what to buy. He’s asked Cas’s sister, Anna, for help, and she’s agreed to meet him there. 

Dean pauses in front of his classroom door, watching his students pile in with snow covered boots and fat winter coats. 

"Careful, guys," Dean warns as a few students slip on the linoleum floors of the hallway. 

"Yes, Mr. Winchester," answers a chorus of voices. 

Dean smiles and waves the kids into their prospective rooms. It would be a busy day, but he’d enjoy every minute of it. 

~~~

"There you are!" Anna calls from a bench near the entrance of the mall. Dean smiles and walks over to greet her.

"Hey, Red," he says, squeezing her in a hug before leading them into the mall. All of the storefronts they walk by announce sales and discounts. "Ready to help me find something for your brother?" 

"Of course," she smiles, but there’s a glint in her eye. "Word on the street is he’s giving you a hard time?" 

"Does the whole family know?" Dean sighs, "I was telling Nurse Bradbury back at school, I love Cas to death, but lately he’s just been so…"

"Moody?" 

"Yes! God, yes," Dean replies and Anna laughs. 

"Don’t worry, we’ve noticed that, too."

"So it’s not just me? I’ve been thinking that I did something wrong-."

"It’s not you," Anna assures, patting Dean on the back. "Cas is just…going through something."

"Going through something?" Dean stops to look at Anna. "Is something wrong with Cas? Did something happen at work?" The Novak family owns a hospital downtown - Novak General Hospital - and most of them work there, too. Cas was a nurse, but made the salary of a starting physician. Sometimes things got hectic, but Cas always told Dean about it when he got home…not that he’d been very chatty, lately. 

"Nothing’s wrong, Dean, don’t worry," Anna promises, moving them along again. "Let’s just worry about getting him something nice for Christmas, okay?" 

Dean raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t voice his suspicion. “Okay,” he agrees, looking around at the stores. “Cas did mention something about not having enough sweaters…”

"Onward to the clothing stores!" Anna shouts, pulling Dean along as he tries to stifle his laughter. The Novak’s were nothing if not interesting. 

That evening, when he gets home, Dean wraps the presents and places them under the 7 foot tree in the living room. He ended up buying Cas a watch, as well, to replace the old one he’s been wearing for years. He checks the stockings above their fake fireplace for good measure, relieved to find them empty. By the time Cas gets home, Dean is already in bed, but he feels Cas place a short kiss to the back of his neck when he slips under their shared covers. Dean falls asleep easily after that.  

~~~

On Christmas Eve morning, Dean wakes up to an empty bed and the sound of retching. In seconds, he’s knocking at the door of the master bath, on high alert. 

"Cas? Sweetheart, you okay?" 

"I’m-" Cas coughs, "I’m fine, Dean, don’t worry." 

"You want me to come in?"

"No!" Cas answers, a bit too quickly for Dean’s liking, but he’d rather not piss Cas off again, so he doesn’t push.

"Alright, well I’m here if you need anything." 

Cas hums a reply before Dean hears retching again. Every fiber in him wants to run into the bathroom, but Cas insisted that he was fine, so Dean resigns to bed once more. A glance at his watch tells him that it’s already past noon. 

"Babe?" Dean yells across the room. 

"Yeah?" Cas replies through the closed door. Dean hears the sink stop running. 

"Are we still going to Michael’s Christmas party tonight?"

"Of course," Cas says, opening the bathroom door and peeking his head through. He wipes at his mouth with a hand towel. "Why wouldn’t we?" He’s wearing the blue robe from the set they received on there honeymoon almost two years ago. It makes Dean smile. 

"What are you smiling about?" Cas asks, genuinely confused. This makes Dean smile even wider. 

"Your robe reminds me of our honeymoon." 

Cas looks down at himself for a moment, but when he looks back up, he’s smiling, too. “All good memories, I presume?”

"Of course," Dean slides off the bed and walks toward the bathroom. When he reaches Cas, he cups his cheek with one hand and kisses him, slowly.

"What was that for?" Cas breathes when they finally pull apart. 

"What, a man can’t kiss his husband good morning?" 

Cas rolls his eyes. “Go make breakfast or something, I’m starved. I’m gonna shower and be right out.” 

Dean starts to protest, but Cas just kisses him again before backing away to close the door in his face. “And no eggs! Even thinking about them makes me feel sick all over again.” 

"But you love eggs!" Dean yells to the door, but the shower starts running and his words are drowned out. "What is with him?" Dean wonders aloud. He throws on a t-shirt and heads downstairs anyway.

Dean makes pancakes, but when Cas comes downstairs, he frowns. 

"Dean…" he starts. 

"What, Cas? You said no eggs."

"Yes, but pancakes have  _eggs in them._ " 

Dean stares at the pan in his hand for a moment before looking up at a Cas. “So you don’t want…any of this.” 

Cas shrugs and grabs orange juice from the fridge. “It’s fine, I’ll just have cereal or something. I’m sure Michael made a bunch of food anyway, and we have to head over soon.” 

"So what do I do with the pancakes?" Dean asks, eyebrows raised. He doesn’t want to argue on Christmas Eve, about  _pancakes_ no less, but Cas’s moods are getting out of hand. 

"Oh, don’t look at me like that," Cas sighs, "You can always eat them. Or put them in the fridge for tomorrow. I don’t know." He plops down on a stool and leans his elbows on the island in the center of the kitchen. "Do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want? Whatever  _I_ want?” Dean turns off the stove, scrapes all of the pancakes onto a plate and shoves them aside before turning to face Cas from across the island. “Cas, for the past week, it’s been whatever  _you_ want, have you noticed that?”

Cas looks sheepish for a moment, and Dean thinks he might be getting an apology, but he soon realizes that he’s mistaken. 

"Well, maybe…maybe it should be about me, sometimes."

Dean blinks. “What the hell are you talking about, Cas?”

Cas grunts and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We live in your house, I drive a car you picked out for me, when my family calls me all they talk about is  _you -.”_

Dean shakes his head, caught off guard. “Wait, wait, we decided to move into my house because -.”

"Because it was closer to  _your_ job.”

"I got you the car as an anniversary present! You said you liked it!"

"I did…at the time…"

Dean doesn’t know what to think. “What are you saying?”

"I’m saying," Cas stands, "Ever since we got married, you’ve been in control. And sometimes, I like that - love it, even - but what about me, Dean? What about what  _I_ want for us?” 

Dean stands still, dumbfounded. He wonders if Cas has felt this way for the past two and a half years. He wonders when he stopped asking for Cas’s opinion on things. Dean’s anger goes out like a flame devoid of oxygen, and his entire body suddenly feels heavy with guilt. 

"Why didn’t you say anything sooner?" Dean asks quietly, offering his hands to Cas, who takes them without hesitation. 

"Because I didn’t want to upset you."

"Oh, Cas," Dean frowns. "I’m so sorry, babe. Is that why you’ve been so upset all week?" 

"You mean cranky?" Cas’s mouth curls into a fake grin, "Not…entirely…" 

Dean drops his hands and raises a brow. “What aren’t you telling me? And does Anna know, because the last time I saw her, she looked like she knew something. Also, did you tell Charlie, too, because the level of sass I got from her on Friday -.”

"Yes, Anna and Charlie know," Cas admits, dragging Dean by the arm into the living room. Dean doesn’t stop him. "So do Hael, and Balthazar, and Michael…and Sam and Jess-."

"I  _knew_ there was a reason Sam was screening my calls!” Dean exclaims, already plotting his revenge against his little brother. “Am I the only one who doesn’t know?” 

"Yes," Cas says, matter of factly, as he moves to stand next to the Christmas tree. "But only because it has to do with your Christmas gift." Cas rubs his hands together nervously. "Rather, it  _is_ your gift.”

Dean has his hands on his hips as he waits for some sort of explanation. “Cas, whatever you got me, I’m sure I’ll adore it.” 

"I know, love, but this…might come as a shock." 

Dean makes a sound that’s more of a scoff than a laugh, “Try me, babe.” 

Cas twists his wedding band and takes a deep breath. 

 _This oughta be good,_ Dean thinks. 

"I’m pregnant."

"You -."  _Wait, what?_ Dean isn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. And he’s happy about it, elated, but it’s still processing in his mind.  _Pregnant._   _With child._ He must not look too happy, because Cas frowns.

"I know you wanted to wait a little longer, and I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but..but…" Cas stutters, then continues rambling, "I bought like eight different pregnancy tests and they all said positive and I was so excited but then I remembered that you wanted to wait and I wasn’t sure if you’d want to keep it-." 

"Whoa, wait a second!" Dean stops Cas with a hand as his brain finally catches up to what his ears have heard. "You thought I wouldn’t want to keep the…our baby?" 

"Dean, you said you weren’t ready."

"When did I say that?"

"On Halloween? I mentioned how cute it would be to dress up our own kid and you laughed and said you weren’t looking forward to that just yet." 

Dean remembers saying that. He also remembers only half-meaning it, but of course, Cas was never one to pick up on sarcasm. 

"And," Cas continues, "I knew I’d terminate the pregnancy if you weren’t on board. I’d do that for you."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because I’d do anything for you, Dean. I’d got to hell and back for you, and that terrifies me." 

They stand in the living room for a long moment, their eyes locked on each other’s. The only sound comes from the fake fireplace as the Christmas lights and decorations fade from Dean’s vision, and soon, all Dean can see is Cas. His beautiful, loyal Castiel, worried about something he has no reason at all to worry about.

It’s Dean who breaks the silence, striding forward to capture the other man in a tight hug just as a sob escapes Cas. 

"I would never,  _ever_ ask you to do something like that,” Dean states firmly into the crook of Cas’s neck, “Never.” 

Cas only nods against Dean shoulder and holds him tighter. After another minute, Dean moves them to the couch to sit down, settling Cas comfortably between his legs as he leans against the arm of the chair.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Of course, Dean," Cas replies, twisting in his arms to face him. He smiles weakly. "The feeling is mutual."

"I’m going to love our baby the same way," Dean declares, placing a hand on Cas’s still flat belly. "We’re having this baby."

Cas’s face lights up, “We’re having a baby,” he says, wrapping and arm around Dean’s neck with a dazzling smile. “This is really happening.”

"This is really happening," Dean repeats, leaning in for a long, sweet kiss. When they separate, Dean laughs. 

"What’s funny?" Cas squints at Dean.

"Your gift to me is a baby. Honestly, I just don’t think I can top that."

Cas laughs outright. “Whatever you got me, love, I’m sure I’ll adore it,” he mocks, pecking Dean on the lips. “We’re not supposed to open the presents until later tonight, anyway.”

"Well I don’t get to enjoy my present for another nine months, so I don’t wanna hear any whining from you." Dean says with a smirk. "But at least I get to gloat about my husband giving me the best gift ever."

"You’re such a show off," Cas chuckles, "but I love you for it." 

"And you drive me insane, but here I am, fathering your child." 

"That you are," Cas seals their words with a searing kiss, and the two don’t part for a long time.

Needless to say, they don’t make it to the party that night, but their stockings are filled with rattles and pacifiers in the morning. 


End file.
